Search the Blog

Cadette Troop Explores Digital Filmmaking!

By: Carleen Lattin, Troop Leader in Elmira

“So, who is going to be in the movie? What are the roles? What will our movie be about?”

When girls from Cadette Troop 41406 in Elmira first decided that they wanted to work on the Digital Filmmaker Cadette badge, they didn’t seem to think it would be all that hard to do. They were working on that simultaneously with the Screenwriter badge.

They reviewed the movie “Madea Gets a Job” to get an idea of what they would and would not like to do differently for a movie. The girls decided everything from what the storyline would be to the roles, the script and making storyboards. There was so much more detail that they had to decide on. To get some help the girls teamed up with one of the girls’ sister who is a senior student in the video and audio media BOCES program. Her teacher graciously let us borrow the equipment for use during our project. It gave the students experience and she taught the girls how to use the camera, how to write the storyboards, etc. I think it was a lot more work coming up with the whole movie than the girls had realized!

We are still finishing the filming parts of the movie, which will be approximately 5 minutes. A lot of modification had to be done to fit the girls time frame, but they are learning the skills outlined in the badge. They realize that a 5 minute film can take literally hours of filming time and is not that easy. In the end, it will be worth it. It may not be up for an Academy Award, but the girls are having fun learning about it and may pursue it later on.

This is certainly different from the badges when I was a young Girl Scout, but at the same time, the changes in the arts and technology is fascinating.